It is often required to tightly cinch a single cord or one girding a net, such as a mesh net, adapted to surround a variety of loads on a floor or a platform. One example of such a net is described in Canadian Patent Application No. 522,399, filed Nov. 6, 1986, in the name of Purdy, and assigned to the present applicant. This application describes a load restraint net particularly intended to be mounted in the trunk of a sedan vehicle or the rear of a station wagon vehicle to restrain loads, such as luggage, baggage, groceries, bags or the like.
It has been found during the development of such a product that a device to cinch the rope or cord was needed, which device had to:
(i) allow infinite adjustment of the rope or cord length to accept large or small item and hold them firmly in place;
(ii) be completely self-contained;
(iii) not require mounting to a frame for support;
(iv) feature one-handed release capability;
(v) have a built-in safety feature, automatically locking the rope or cord when not properly secured by user;
(vi) be sturdy enough to withstand a crash situation;
(vii) be both aesthetically pleasing and ergonomically correct; and
(viii) be user friendly and simple to handle.